New Philadelphia in Tuscarawas County, Ohio — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

The New Schoenbrunn Mission

By J. J. Prats, April 8, 2006

1. The New Schoenbrunn Mission Marker

Inscription. Here, on April 10, 1779 during the Revolutionary War, David Zeisberger founded one of the five Delaware Christian missions to occupy the Tuscarawas Valley between May 3, 1772 and September 8, 1781. Living at the Lichtenau mission near the Delaware capital of Goschachgunk (presently Coshocton, Ohio), Zeisberger feared that the Delaware nation was about to break their neutrality and join the British led Indians. Accordingly, he decided to disperse his Christian congregation and move his converts thirty-five miles up river to a place of safety in this large alluvial plain adjacent to the Tuscarawas River.

David Zeisberger 1721–1808. Born in Zachtenthal, Moravia (now Czechoslovakia), Zeisberger came to America in 1738 to join his parents who were missionaries to the Cherokee Indians at Savannah, Georgia. In 1741 the family moved to Pennsylvania and helped found Bethlehem which became the headquarters of the Moravian Church in America. Entering the Indian missionary service in 1745, he served for 63 years as a missionary to the American Indians, principally among the Delaware Nation. He twice resided in the Tuscarawas Valley during the years 1772-1781 and 1798-1808. He died at the Goshen mission in his 88th year and is buried in the Indian cemetery three miles south of this location.

Erected

By J. J. Prats, April 8, 2006

2. The New Schoenbrunn Mission Marker

1992 by Tuscarawas County Historical Society and The Ohio Historical Society. (Marker Number 1-79.)

Location. 40° 28.249′ N, 81° 26.485′ W. Marker is in New Philadelphia, Ohio, in Tuscarawas County. Marker is on Commercial Avenue SE (Ohio Route 416) south of Cookson Avenue SE, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: New Philadelphia OH 44663, United States of America.

Credits. This page was last revised on September 28, 2017. This page originally submitted on April 23, 2006, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 1,609 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on April 23, 2006, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 4. submitted on March 16, 2015, by Mike Wintermantel of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Editor’s want-list for this marker. Photos of the Schoenbrunn State Memorial • Can you help?